Making a complaint
Many people do not realise they're causing a nuisance, so before you make a complaint we recommend you try to talk to the person and politely tell them about the problem.
If you live in a Housing Association or rented property, you should discuss your problem with your landlord. Most Conditions of Tenancy include a requirement that tenants do not cause disturbance to neighbours.
If your neighbour continues to cause a nuisance, contact us using the details at the bottom of this page to report it.
How we'll investigate your complaint
If we can investigate your complaint we'll contact the person you've complained about. This will tell them that a complaint has been made and ask them to consider ways to stop their actions from being a nuisance. We will not tell them who has made the complaint.
Diary sheet for odour, noise, smoke or light complaints
At the same time, we'll send you a diary sheet to fill in if the nuisance continues. You need to fill it in for 21 days to give us evidence of the alleged nuisance. Once you've completed the diary sheet and sent it to us we'll assess it to determine the extent of the nuisance.
These diaries are important and we may use them as evidence in court. Be honest and accurate as magistrates do not look kindly on exaggerated or inaccurate evidence, and may throw the case out of court.
Visits to assess the nuisance
Where necessary, an Environmental Protection officer will make a number of visits to assess if the nuisance represents a statutory nuisance. Visits can be made at times when the nuisance is likely to occur including outside office hours.
For noise complaints, we may install noise recording equipment in your house. In most cases it will be necessary for an officer to witness the noise before formal action can be taken.
What we can do about the nuisance
During the investigation period we may be able to take informal action to solve the problem first, but once a statutory nuisance has been determined, we have to serve an Abatement Notice. If the notice is ignored, prosecution may follow with a fine of up to £5,000 for nuisance from domestic properties, or up to £20,000 where commercial or industrial premises are involved.
It may be difficult to solve the problem to everyone's satisfaction; however, we'll keep you informed of our progress.
If it's not a statutory nuisance
If, for whatever reason, we cannot take action to stop a nuisance, or if you do not want to involve us, you can complain directly to the magistrate's court under section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Your diaries will be a valuable source of evidence when taking this action.
Find out more about taking your own private action to magistrate's court
We may also be able to put you in touch with a mediation service which can help settle problems between neighbours.